34 years! (707) 933-1300 info@sculpturesite.com
34 years! (707) 933-1300 info@sculpturesite.com
Huncilman lives in an alternate reality. That's what viewers might think after seeing his works made from metal, wood, paper and fabric. He creates enigmatic forms with even more enigmatic titles such as Dharmamatic or Bunda Mambo. The viewer is at once fascinated and confounded by this wonderland of intriguing forms and convoluted messages.
Huncilman's work invites approach. The use of colors sparks sentimental memories. We are emotionally drawn, desiring fulfillment of our fantasy; but the alien forms don't seem to belong to any remembered world. One of the strongest attractions is the fact that many of his sculptures have movable parts or appear only to be complete if allowed to move. Our physical interaction seems to be invited. In addition to the many different kinetic aspects, some sculptures are hanging from the ceiling, or they are hanging on walls. Or, they look like machines and tools that do not suit our preconceptions of what they are supposed to look like or accomplish. This is a trademark of Huncilman's work.
Huncilman welds steel together with organic and electronic elements to create objects that are humorous and mythological. The mythology seems to have a historical basis - or does it? These objects teeter between the integration and the contradiction of their elements. They glow with glaring lights and make noises like out-dated machines. In a self-portrait, a bicycle wheel of straw is strapped to a wooden carrying frame. It's easy to project a cynical interpretation of this work as society's view of artistic talents: the right equipment used in the wrong way for no good purpose.
Huncilman's progeny would contradict that conclusion. Like Alice in Wonderland, we find that often nonsense makes much more sense.
Other pieces show a more mischievous nature at work. Rat Master Sandals makes an uncomfortable analogy between thongs and rat traps. And again, his Magic Walking Braces are made of barbed wire. A Model of Facts is a wooden chair supported by legs made of stacked squares of newspapers. Casters have been provided for convenience.
His mechanical approach contemplates stages of human experience that draws upon many cultures for its sources, universalizing these experiences in what seems like a simplified form, like a toy, yet one that is quite complicated and, upon further examination, forces the viewer to question these assumptions.
Group Exhibitions
2011 Animal Dreams, a new leaf gallery | sculpturesite, Sonoma, CA
2004 Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ
Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA
4th Street Studios, Berkeley, CA
2003 Pacific Rim Sculptors, contract Design Center, San Francisco, CA
2002 John Natasoulos Gallery, Davis, CA
2001 Black Madonna, USF, San Francisco, CA
2000 Barbara Anderson Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2000 Los Medanos College, Pittsburg, CA
2000 A New Leaf Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2000 City of Hayward Arts Council , Hayward, CA
2000 Pacific Rim Sculptors, Contract Design Center, San Francisco, CA
1998 Gallery Blu, Palm Desert, CA
1998 Ira Wolk Gallery, St. Helena, CA
1997 Pacific Rim Sculptors, Contract Design Center, San Francisco, CA
1996 Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
1996 John Natasoulos Gallery, Davis, CA
1996 La Quinta Sculpture Park, La Quinta, CA
1995 Berkeley Art Center, Berkley CA
1995 New Leaf Gallery, Berkeley, CA
1995 Pence Gallery, Davis, CA
1994 The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
1994 Syntex Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
1994 Holy Names College, Oakland, CA
1994 Landes Gallery, Berkeley, CA
Awards
San Francisco Carnival Parade
California State Fair
Commissions
Temple Sinai, Oakland CA
Jewish Home for the Aged, San Francisco, CA
Bibliography
1996 Oakland Tribune "Kinetic Sculpture goes Beserk-ley"
1994 San Francisco Chronicle "Carnival Parade"
1993 The Secret Alameda
1991 The Stockton Record "Sculpture filled with whimsy, intrigue"
Education
1984 M.F.A. Sculpture, San Francisco Art Institute
1982 San Francisco State University
1973 Goddard College, Vermont